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Poetry: April 01, 2009 Issue [#2980]

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Poetry


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  Edited by: Red Writing Hood <3 Author IconMail Icon
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Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter



Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting with the gift of speech.

Simonides (556 BC - 468 BC)




Word from our sponsor



Letter from the editor



Poetry That Moves: Performance Poems, Projective Verse, and Skeletonic Verse


The gymnast twists, turns, and tumbles to the music, looking every bit the bumble bee the music suggests.

Poetry is closely tied to sound, but did you know that there is movement in poetry?

There are several ways that poetry can move, and today we will discuss three of them, as well as the genres and poetry forms associated with them.


Projective Verse


Projective verse is more of a genre of poetry rather than a poetry form. Free verse is a type of projective verse. When a poet creates projective verse, they format the poem as it comes to them—almost as a poetic stream of consciousness writing session. In fact, “how the poem appears on the page is an integral part of the meaning of the poem” (Padgett 140).

BRIEF HISTORY

Projective verse, as a poetic term, originated in a 1950’s essay by Charles Olsen (Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry).

MUST HAVES

--Just let the words flow.
--Allow your formatting to add meaning to the poem.

COULD HAVES or What's The Poet's Choice In All This?

--Length can be long or short.
--Following strict traditional forms should be avoided.

How it Moves

This genre’s movement is in the formatting. Does it jump, or is it smooth? It’s all in how the poet lays out the words on the page.


Skeletonic Verse


Skeletonic verse is sometimes referred to as “tumbling verse”, for reasons you will discover in a moment.

BRIEF HISTORY

This poetry form is named after its inventor. He was John Skelton, a fifteenth century English poet who “used many of the elaborate forms of his time, but began to feel they were getting dull” (Padgett 175). He also wanted a form that portrayed language more as it was spoken.

MUST HAVES

--Short lines.
--Many mono rhymes.
--“Let the rhymes carry the poem along, beginning a new group of rhymes when the last group of rhymes seems to be losing its punch” (Padgett 175).

COULD HAVES or What's The Poet's Choice In All This?

--Length can be long or short.

How it Moves

The movement in this form is its pacing. The short lines create a quick pace.


Performance Poems


Performance poetry is also more of a genre than a form. It can be as simple as reciting a poem out loud and as complex as hiring twelve people to dance and play bells, slide whistles, kazoos, toasters, and electric toothbrushes on cue.

BRIEF HISTORY

Reciting poems in front of an audience is as old as time, and is common to all peoples all over the globe.

MUST HAVES

--A poem that is intended to be performed. It may also be accompanied by performance instructions.
--Words in this genre are important and the accompaniment should be used to emphasize the words. “The poet is more concerned with the words than with the spectacle” (Padgett 136).

COULD HAVES or What's The Poet's Choice In All This?

--Any form (or no particular form), just follow the form's rules if you use one.
--Any rhyme (or no rhyme), unless a form is used, then you follow the rhyme scheme for that form.
--Any meter (or no set meter) unless a form is used, then you follow the meter required for that form.
--Length can be long or short. However, if you use a form, that form might dictate the length.


How it Moves

The movement for this genre is visual, and sometimes includes movement with sound.

A poet can be many things: creator, conductor, musician, gymnast and more. A poem can be many things: an image, a sound, a movement, and more. Explore them all.


SOURCE notes:

Padgett, Ron. Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms. 2nd. NY: T & W Books, 2000.

The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Edited by Ales Preminger and T. V. F. Brogan. 1993.



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Editor's Picks



Theme: Movement

My Soul Moves Open in new Window. [E]
Poem from RHYTHMS - Poetry and Muse, my first published book that won the 2008 IPPY Award
by leoshelton Author Icon

 Invalid Item Open in new Window. []

by A Guest Visitor

 Word Storms Open in new Window. [E]
"language full you cannot move to move me..."
by cackalacky Author Icon

 Invalid Item Open in new Window. []

by A Guest Visitor

 Invalid Item Open in new Window. []

by A Guest Visitor


 
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Ask & Answer



RESPONSES to last month's poetry exercise:

Mavis Moog Author Icon:

You know how a name is ruined,
By belonging to a boy who weed his pants in primary school,
Well, for me a song can be spoiled
When someone sings the best bit in a voice
Which sounds like a skidding needle,
Or a cat being boiled and thrown off a cliff.
When someone you despise
Or worse, someone un-hip like your mother
Whistles your favourite lick or riff;
Remember; don't judge a hook by its lover.


THANKFUL SONALI Library Class! Author Icon:

I love that word:- poeticize
It's candy to my ears and eyes!
As for me, it's subject first
Then comes the verse (worst ...?)
I've tried to write the other way,
For me, that's all work, no play!
I must say I admire those
Who can write poetry (or prose)
Where form comes first, then subject matter
To them I doff my hat and hatter!


and "Invalid ItemOpen in new Window.


I've decided to use The Practice of Poetry: Writing Exercises From Poets Who Teach: (Available at Amazon.Com) in order to hone my skills.

Every month I will share a synopsis of one of the exercises I want to try. If you also try the exercise, please feel free to share it with me and the Poetry newsletter subscribers. If you send me a link to your item, I shall place that link in this section next month.

The exercise I will try this month comes from chapter 1, page 27, and is called A Journey to Nowhere. This exercise was written by Susan Snively.

This will be a longer poem, in fact, Ms. Snively suggests shooting for at least sixty-five lines. Your goal for this poem is to take the reader on a journey, but end up in an unexpected place. She goes on to say, "begin the poem with a predicament: the speaker of the poem (the poet, her surrogate, a fictional narrator, or an actual person re-imagined) is lost or hunting for something (someone), or is being propelled into a quest against her will, or is on a supposedly ordinary journey that turns out weird."

This one will challenge me because I don't often write long poems. How will it challenge you?

Have fun!

~*~

Have a question, answer, problem, solution, tip, trick, cheer, jeer, or extra million lying around?

If so, send it through the feedback section at the bottom of this newsletter OR click the little envelope next to my name Red Writing Hood <3 Author IconMail Icon and send it through email.


Comments on last month's newsletter:


Submitted By: NOVAcatmando Author Icon
Submitted Comment:

Your quote: Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting with the gift of speech. Simonides (556 BC - 468 BC)

Speaks to me. "Invalid ItemOpen in new Window. . Thanks for the reminder on how we paint with words.


Submitted By: alfred booth, wanbli ska Author Icon
Submitted Item: "Invalid ItemOpen in new Window.
Submitted Comment:

I love exercises like the one you've stimulated us with today. I've submitted my first attempt, written and not edited under 10 minutes. I'll try the exercise again, and send you privately the results.

If the rest of the exercises in this book are as good, I'll have to buy a copy. Thanks for the plug. alfred

I love this book--so much I had to share it with the newsletter. I look forward to reading another attempt of this exercise.


Submitted By: turps Author Icon
Submitted Comment:

Hi Red Riding Hood, I was surprised and delighted to see one of my poems featured in this week's newsletter. Thankyou. I had to go back to see what I'd written...stream of consciousness doesn't fit any formula. That's how I write, and though my poems may be of all the accepted styles - lyric, sonnet, free-verse, ballad, monologue - I don't think about it when I write (except the sonnet, when lines and rhyme suddenly jump out at me!) I am willing to just let them happen and damn the critics. Not to say I don't enjoy reading about the variations of form peculiar to different communities: this is something to rejoice because it enriches our writing world. However, forgive me if I don't try to write in a style with which I can't connect: I'll muddle along and try to make sense of my world with the words and styles to which I'm used. Regards, Turps

Absolutely! I try to offer a variety of information, please use what works for you. Stretch yourself when you can, but don't force it--enjoy it.

~*~

I am so glad the newsletter is inspiring so many. Thank you for your feedback--keep it coming! *Delight*



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